The
Jagged Alliance Online Website announces plans to expand the
browser-based online installment in this series of tactical role-playing games.
The update brings a bunch of new features, including 17 new missions, new
weapons and armor, and new crafting recipes. The level cap is also raised to 50
in the new version.

Almost just as bad as the blatant cash grab is, the game is based off of some wonky ranges, too. The screenshots don't seem to fairly represent the average combat ranges, as anything more than five or six tiles away was practically unhittable with your weapons. Maybe getting better equipment and marksmanship skill would improve on that, but it seemed to me that you had to do EVERYTHING at point blank ranges.

Oh yeah, and if you want to repair the durability on your gun, you have to spend real life money on it, with no way around it that I could find. Eff that.

I remember looking at this for all of 60 seconds when it first went live before I realized there was nothing I would like about this game at all despite me being the biggest Jagged Alliance fan in history.

I'm amazed it's even still going.

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” - Mahatma Gandhi

Unfortunately, Jagged Alliance Online suffers from the inevitable hidden costs of the free-to-play model, which seem particularly intrusive here. It starts early, such as when you need to buy an additional mercenary to help you out right after the tutorial mission, leaving you with the option of buying one limited to 24 real-time hours or a permanent one with outrageously priced premium currency. It seems fine at first, but it soon becomes apparent that the gold cost of mercenaries far outstrips the pace at which you earn gold if you’re playing casually, so eventually you’ll have to spend cash. Then there’s the fuel (which acts as “energy” somewhat) that replenishes over time, but not at a rate that’s fast enough to balance with everything you need it for. Inevitably, you’ll run out, forcing you to run to the cash shop again. And all this before you’ve even tried to expand your inventory.